Autopsy results reveal cause of death for NC high school football player

Rolesville High School football player Isaiah Langston, 17, died Sept. 29 after collapsing on the field before the team’s Friday night football game, Sept. 26.

According to the newly released autopsy obtained by WTVD, the official cause of death is listed as “complications of vertebral artery dissection due to blunt force injury of the head and neck.”

“The patient had a large posterior circulation stroke … which most likely occurred secondary to vertebral dissection,” the report says.

The report shows Langston received the fatal injury two days before that game on Sept. 24. He complained of a headache, but was in the pre-game warm up by Friday. During that warm-up, he fell on all fours. For a few minutes, he was awake and talking to trainers and then he “slumped onto his back and an AED [Automated External Defibrillator] was applied,” the report said.

Immediately after Langston’s death, Isaiah’s brother told WTVD that Isaiah’s collapse had something to do with a blood clot in his brain. He said Isaiah was an aspiring artist, who hoped to attend an art school after graduation.

Langston’s injury and death happened two weeks after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was in Wake County promoting “Heads Up Football,” a nationally developed program that teaches tackling techniques that reduce helmet contact.

The autopsy report does not indicate whether Langston was wearing a helmet at the time of his injury.